West Virginia is coming off two consecutive wins to open the Big 12 portion of their schedule as they host No. 11 Iowa State this weekend
The Cyclones and Mountaineers are two of the five remaining undefeated teams in the Big 12 and they face off in Morgantown at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Head Coach
Matt Campbell is in his 9th season at Iowa State and is 58-48 during his tenure. Campbell is 4-3 all-time against WVU, while Mountaineer head coach Neal Brown is 1-3 against Iowa State.
Iowa State is 5-0 for the first time since 1980 and they are 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2020.
The last time these two teams played came in 2022 when WVU fell 31-14 on the road.
Offense
Quarterbacking the Cyclones is Rocco Becht. Becht has completed 66 percent of his passes on the season, throwing for 1,173 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions. He's also rushed 19 times for 55 yards and a touchdown.
In his two Big 12 games this year Becht has completed 62.3 percent of his passes, throwing for 430 yards, three scores, and an interception.
In the backfield with Becht will be three running backs who split time. Carson Hansen, Jaylon Jackson, and Abu Sama, all split time in the ISU backfeld.
Jackson had 48 rushes on the season for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Sama also has 48 rush yards, going for 242 yards and a touchdown. Hansen has 41 rushees for 211 yards and two touchdowns. In their last game against Baylor, Jackson and Hansen each got 15 carries while Sama got eight.
Becht's weapons on the outside include two wide receivers who are highly productive.
Jaylin Noel has 24. catches for 451 yards and two touchdowns. Jayden Higgins has 33. catches, which leads Iowa State, for 403 yards and five touchdowns. At tight end is Benjamin Brahmer who has seven catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Outside of those three, there is no one else who has more than four catches on the season for Iowa State, and outside of Brahmer, there is no one else with at least seven catches either.
Iowa State ranks in the top-half of the Big 12 in most offensive categories. They are 9th in scoring offense, 8th in passing offense, 7th in rushing offense, 6th in red zone efficiency, 6th in third-down percentage, 5th in time of possession, 4th in fourth-down percentage, and 4th in offensive efficiency.
Defense
Defensively, Iowa State is among the best units in the Big 12 if not the country.
They have playmakers all over the field on all three levels of the defense. Linebacker Kooper Ebel has 35 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and a sack on the season. There are then four defensive backs who have made their name known.
Malik Verdon has 32 total tackles, 2.5 TFLs, an interception, and a forced fumble. Beau Freyler has 29 total tackles, a pair of TFLs, and an interception. Jeremiah Cooper has 19 total tackles, two interceptions and a TFL. Jontez Williams has 19 total tackles as well, two interceptions and two TFLs.
On the defensive line, JR Singleton has 15 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and 3.0 sacks.
To not much surprise, ISU is at the top of the Big 12 in many defensive categories. They are first in total defense, first in pass defense, and first in defensive efficiency. They are second in opponent first downs, 7th in opponent third-down percentage, 8th in rushing defense, 12th in fourth-down percentage. They also have nine sacks on the season.
Special Teams
Iowa State's kicker Kyle Konrardy is 8-for-10 on field goals this year.
He is perfect on all five his field goals from 20-39 yards. He has missed two field goals between 40-49 yards and made his only kick from beyond 50 yards of 54 yards.
On kickoffs is Jace Gilbert who has 17 touchbacks on 25 kickoffs.
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